Eyes Opened

Africa is eye-opening.
I realize how spoiled I have been while  growing up in America. So many things I took for granted are hard to come by here.
Little luxuries like fast internet, computers, and constant electricity become bigger luxuries once you live without them for a while.
Even indoor plumbing is a pretty huge deal here. Where I am, the water is off and on without explanation. 
In the states, people take it for granted. Of course there's electricity and water! Not so here.

When you go to a restaurant, there are no health inspectors checking out the kitchen…you never know how that food was prepared...

When you even eat nutritious food, you're better off than many.

If you must go to the hospital, heaven forbid. The hospitals here can do little to help. Pray that you don't need surgery, because you don't know where the surgeon's hands have been or when the equipment was last sterilized.  Treatment can be costly, and they actually keep you at the hospital until you can pay…some children have grown up in the hospital. There are clinics from outside countries.

When you are somewhere where the luxuries are considerably less, you realize how blessed and well-off you are.
This became a spiritual allegory too, in a way.
I have grown up in a Christian home. I expressed the desire to be a Christian when I was 6. As terrible as it is, I have grown used to some of the blessings I have in Christ.
But as I thought about the luxuries that I so easily take for granted in the USA, I started to consider the luxuries that God has promised:

I waited patiently for the LORD;
He turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
He set my feet on a rock,
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.

Psalm 40:1-3

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.

1 Peter 2:9

If you are one of God's people, rejoice! He has called you, you are His.

He has blessed you immensely, innumerably.

He has saved you from the muck and mire.

Though sometimes I take it for granted, today I am going to recall just how much God has done and is doing in my life.

It is comforting to know that there is One who will never leave or forsake you, and One who has got the plan.

I have found that when I start to focus my eyes on Him and what He has done, everything else, every problem and worry, becomes less.